Match summary: Zimbabwe 149 and 31 for 2 (Bennett 18, Henry 1-11, O'Rourke 1-18) trail New Zealand 307 (Conway 88, Mitchell 80, Muzarabani 3-73, Chivanga 2-51) by 127 runs
SEAM bowler Blessing Muzarabani led from the front as Zimbabwe fought back on the second day of the first Test match against New Zealand, bowling out the visitors for 307 at Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo yesterday.
The tourists resumed on Day 2 on 92 without loss, but lost their first wicket with the very first ball of the day.
Muzarabani removed Will Young for 41, caught by Nick Welch.
He went on to take the wicket of Henry Nicholls for 34, leaving New Zealand on 158 for 3.
Rachin Ravindra did not last long, going back to the dressing room three overs later after scoring 2 runs, brilliantly caught by Craig Ervine off the bowling of Sikandar Raza.
The tourists lost three quick wickets after lunch.
Devon Conway fell to Tanaka Chivanga for 88, before Tom Blundell (2) and Michael Bracewell (9) followed, leaving New Zealand on 200 for 6.
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Daryl Mitchell offered resistance in the middle order, scoring a valiant 80 runs to push the visitors towards the 300 mark.
He was the last wicket to fall for New Zealand, bowled out by the young fast bowler Newman Nyamhuri.
Muzarabani finished with figures of 3 for 73, while Chivanga took 2 wickets for 51.
Nyamhuri, Raza, Sean Williams and Vincent Masekesa all took one wicket each.
New Zealand had a first-innings lead of 158 runs before Zimbabwe walked in to bat in their second innings.
After what promised to be a solid start, Will O’Rourke got the wicket of Brian Bennett for 18, Zimbabwe’s first wicket with 25 runs on the board.
Five balls later, Matt Henry removed Ben Curran for 11 as Zimbabwe lost their second wicket a few overs before stumps.
At the end of the day, Zimbabwe were on 31 for 2, Welch on 2 and night watchman Masekesa yet to get off the mark.
Day 2 was an action-packed affair, with Zimbabwe displaying plenty of grit and determination with the ball.
They succeeded in limiting New Zealand’s lead to 158 runs, yet their batting struggles remain a concern.
The loss of both openers in the challenging period before stumps means the game is nicely poised going into the “Moving Day”.
